Cotton-seed planter



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. RADLEY.

COTTON SEED PLANTER- No. 392,689. Patented Nov. 13, 1888.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. RADLEY.

COTTON SEED PLANTER.

No. 392,689. Patented Nov. 13, 1888 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. W.HADLEY.

COTTON SEED PLANTBR.

No. 392,689. Patent ed Nov. 13, 1888.

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COTTON SEED PLANTER.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,689, dated November18, 1888.

Application filed January 20, 1887. Renewed March 30, 1888. Serial No.269,006. (No model.)

To' all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RADLEY, of Sandwich, in the county of DeKalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use fulImprovements in Cotton-Seed Planters, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved planter. Fig. 2 is adetached View of the agitator-shaft, showing the means whereby theagitator-arms are secured thereto. Fig. 3 is a view of one of theagitator-arms. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the feeding mechanism. Fig.5 is a top view thereof. Fig. 6 is a top view thereof with the case Fremoved. Fig. 7 is a transverse section on the line 7 7 in Fig. 6. Fig.8 is a transverse section of the shaft N, near one of the agitators 1?.

My invention relates to the feeding mechanism especially adapted tocottonseed planters, but also adapted to planters for feeding otherkinds of seed and to fertilizendistributers.

The object is to provide novel force-feed mechanism which may be quicklyand easily adapted to feed the seed in any desired quantit To this endit consists in the construction and combination of parts herein fullyshown and described,and pointed out definitely in the claims.

The invention in its preferable form is illustrated in the drawings,wherein A represents the side bars of the planter-frame, to which theaxle b of the ground-wheel B is journaled. 0 represents the hoppersecured to said frame in any appropriate manner.

J ournaled, preferably, to the extensions h h of the plate H, which, asshown, forms the bottom of the hopper, is the shaft D. The arms E arerigidly secured to the shaft D in any appropriate manner. A cam, I, isloosely mounted on the shaft D, and means are provided for holding thiscam at any point in its revolution upon said shaft. The means shownconsist of a toothed wheel, 11, which is preferably made integral withsaid cam and so arranged that the bore through which the shaft D passesis central with said wheel, and a latch, h, which is pivoted to anupward extension, h, of the plate H and adapted to engage between theteeth of said wheel.

F represents a case or cover, preferably of sheet metal, which isloosely mounted on the cam I in any suitable manner as, for example, bymeans of the collar f, which loosely surrounds the cam and is fastenedto the case F. The case is provided with slots f in the rim, throughwhich the arms E project,and it is made, preferably, in two parts, likea box and its cover, so that it may be placed in the position shownabout the arms E, with their ends protruding, after which the two partsof the case may be secured together. The slots f should be somewhatlonger than the thickness of the arms E, in order that, since the armsare rigidly fixed, the case may be adapted to occupy all the positionsin which it will be placed by the revolution of the cam.

The case and the arms E project through a slot in the rear of thehopper, and so much of the arms E as project through the slotted rim ofthe case into the hopper are in contact with the seed and are operativeto force it through the slot 0 in the bottom of the hopper into theconductor-tube M.

Surrounding the cam I is preferably a yoke, K, having an arm, 7t, whichis secured to the throat-plate L. This throat-plate is adapted to slideback and forth on the plate H, and is caused to so slide by the backwardand forward movement of the arm k. The throatplate L is provided with aslot, Z, into which the edge of the case passes, and the slotis narrowedat the point through which the arms E pass to the proper width for thepassage of the seed.

Upon the outer end of the shaft D asprocketwheel, d, is secured,which isconnected by a drive-chain to the sprocketwheel b on the shaft 6 of thegroundwheel. The revolution of the ground-wheel causes, through theabovenamed instrumentalities, a revolution of the shaft D. As the shaftrevolves, the arms E revolve and engage with the seed and force itthrough the slots Z and 0 into the conductor, from whence it drops intothe furrow made by the bee. As the arms E revolve, they, by pressingagainst the ends of the slots f, carry the case with them but as thecase revolves about a different center from that about which the arms Erevolveto wit, the center of the cam-the arms E will not all projectequally from the case. When the cam lies upon one side of the shaft, thearms E will project farthest 011 the opposite side; but, as the cam isheld in a fixed position when the arms are revolving, all of the armswill project equally at any given point in their revolution. If it isdesired to feed rapidly, the arms E are made to project the farthest ator near the point where they pass through the slot Z, in which case thecenter of the cam I lies on the opposite side of the shaft 1), and thecase F is drawn in that direction. The cam is held in this position bythe engagement of the latching-arm h with the toothed wheel lVhen it isdesired to reduce the feeding capacity of the arms E, the cam isreleased from its latching-arm h and revolved about the shaft 1) to thedesired position, where it is held by the latch. This brings the case Iforward and, in revolving about its center in the new position, makesthose parts of the arms E that are available at the feeding-pointshorter than before, but of equal. length. At the same time the cammoves the yoke K, which slides the throat-plate I} backward, alwaysholding it in the same position relative to the case F. The width of theslot Z is therefore always constant, while the length is variedsimultaneously and equally with the variation in the length of theoperative parts of the feeding-arms E as the case F approaches andrecedes from the end of the slot 0.

\Vith the above-dcscril ed construction the case can quickly be placedso that no seed at all will be fed by moving the cam so that the armswithin the hopper are almost wholly within the case, and it is designedto soplace the parts when going to or returning from the field. It isbelieved that this is a much simpler way to prevent the waste of seedthan to be obliged to disconnect some of the parts to prevent theoperation of the feeding mechanism. In many respects the precise formshown can be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.For example, the shaft I) may be supported in bearings on one side onlyof the feeding-arms, and said arms may be secured to its free end, whilethe case F, while inclosing said arms, may be mounted on the free end ofanother shaft, the position of which may be made adjustable in any appropriate manner. This construction would contain the essential principleof this part of the invention, as described and claimcd-that is to say,it would contain the arms rigidly fixed to a revolving shaft and a casein part inclosing them and revolving about a different center and meansfor changing the relative position of said centers. The shaft D may bedriven,through gear-eonnection,by the groundwheel shaft, or in anysuitable manner. The form of the locking mechanism may be changed to anyform of setscrews or pins; but I believe the simplicity and ease ofadjustment of the form shown makes it preferable to any other. Thethroat-plate L and its connection with the cam I might be dispensedwith; but that would render the slot in the bottom of the hopper toowide for most uses. I consider the throatplate and its simultaneousadjustment with the case F for some purposes a necessary feature and forall purposes a valuable one. In like manner various parts of theinvention may be replaced by other elements to perform the same orsimilar functions in connection with the remaining parts of theabove-described invention.

In the planting of most seed .it is desirable, and in plantingcotton-seed well nigh indispensable, that revolving agitators orstirrers be located in the hopper to insure that the seed shall not getpiled up out of reach of the feeding-arms. For thispurpose I provide theshaft N, operating within the hopper and mounted in suitable bearingsthereon, and to this shaft the agitators I are secured. This shaft N maybe revolved by the chain R, which engages with the sprocket-wheel a onsaid shaft, or in any other suitable manner, and the agitators may be ofany suitableform and be secured to the shaft by any appropriate means.For sim plicity of construction, however, and because of the ease withwhich the agitators may be secured to the shaft originally or replacedwhen broken, I prefer the novel construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and3 of the drawings. In these figures, N represents the shaft, 1? theagitators, and S a collar which is adapted to be slipped over saidshaft. The agitators consist of three integral partsviz., the centralportion, p,whieh is substantially semicircular in form and is adapted tofit close around the shaft N, and the armsp on each side thereof.

The collar S is provided with interior annular grooves, s, as many innumber as there are agitators P. A. slot or slots, 8, preferably aspiral slot formed by removing onehalf of the wall of the collar towithin a short distance from both ends, (or, more properly, by castingthe collar with the wall so removed,) is formed in the collar. Theagitators are inserted through this slot with the bent part 1) restingin the annular groove .9, while the arms 19 19 extend on each side atright angles to the collar. The shaft Nis passed through the collar andthe agitators are keyed in place thereby, as shown. To prevent them fromrevolving about the shaft the collar S is fastened to the shaft by theset-screw s or by any other appropriate means. It is obvious that thesame effect would be produced, though less economieally, if, instead ofone spiral slot, a se ries of independent slots were made inthe collar,which would permit the agitator-bars to be inserted and lie with theirbent portion partly surrounding the shaft N.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a shaft having arms ICC IIO

season 5;

rigidly secured thereto and a case which in part incloses said arms,having slots in the rim through which the said arms project, and meansfor revolving said case about a different centerfrom that about whichthe arms revolve, with means for placing and holding the center aboutwhich the case revolves in any desired position, for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination of a shaft and feedingarms rigidly secured theretowith a case partially inclosing said arms, and having an adjustablecenter about which it revolves.

3. The combination of a shaft and feedingarms rigidly secured theretowith a case which partially incloses said arms and is caused to revolveby engaging with said arms.

4. The combination of a shaft and feedingarms rigidly secured theretowith a case partially inclosing said arms and revolving about adifferent center from that of the arms, and means for changing therelative position of said centers, for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a shaft and arms rigidly secured thereto with. acam loosely mounted on said shaft, a slot-ted case mounted on said camand in part inclosing said arms, and locking mechanism for holding saidcam in any desired position, for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of a shaft and arms rigidly secured thereto with acam loosely mounted on said shaft, a sliding throat-plate, a yokearmconnecting said cam and throatplate, and locking mechanism for holdingsaid cam in any desired position, for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of a shaft and arms secured thereto with a camloosely mounted on said shaft,having a toothed wheel at one end, aslotted case mounted on the cam and inclosing in part the said arms, anda latch adapted to engage with said toothed wheel, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

8. The combination of a shaft with a cam loosely mounted on said shaft,a toothed wheel secured to said cam, and a latch adapted to engage withsaid toothed wheel, for the purpose specified.

9. In a cotton-seed planter, a cam having integral therewith a toothedwheel and having a bore which passes through both cam and wheel, butcentral with said wheel.

10. In a cottonseed planter, ashaft and arms rigidly secured thereto,combined with aslotted hopper, through the slot of which said armsoperate to feed the seed, and means for increasing and diminishing atwill the operative length of the feeding-arms, for the purposespecified.

11. The combination of a shaft and a collar having one or more slotsthrough the walls thereof with an arm or arms adapted to pass throughsaid slots and lie with a bent central part between the collar andshaft, and with the ends projecting through said slots, and means forsecuring the collar to the shaft, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

12. The combination of a collar having one or more interior transversegrooves which extend partly around said collar, and having the wall ofsaid collar cut away transversely opposite to each groove, with an armor arms having a bent central part adapted to rest in said grooves, ashaft which passes through said collar, and means for securing thecollar to the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

13. The combination of a revolving shaft, arms rigidly secured thereto,with a two-part case having a slotted rim, said arms and case adapted torevolve about different centers, and means for changing the position ofthe center about which the case revolves, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

14. The combination of a shaft and a slotted collar with agitator-armshaving a bent central part adapted to lie within the collar and aroundthe shaft, and means for securing the collar to the shaft, substantiallyas specified, and for the purpose set forth.

15. A collar having about one-half of the walls removed spirally towithin a short dis-- tance of the ends and having internal annulargrooves, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

VM. RADLEY.

Witnesses:

W. H. ROBERTSON, EUGENE HILL.

